The invention relates to improvements in apparatus for reducing the likelihood of injury to drivers of motor vehicles. More particularly, the invention relates to improvements in apparatus which do not or need not employ air bags. Still more particularly, the invention relates to improvements in apparatus which are designed to move the steering wheel away from a position directly in front of and close to the driver in automatic response to a head-on collision so that the driver is less likely to be injured or killed by the steering wheel, by the column for the steering wheel and/or by the structure which rotatably and/or otherwise mounts the column for the steering wheel.
Published German patent application No. 33 37 231 of AUDI NSU AUTO UNION discloses a safety system which can be installed in motor vehicles and is designed to move the steering wheel out of the way within a minute fraction of a second in response to a head-on collision which results in predetermined displacement of the engine block and/or the transmission case relative to the frame of the motor vehicle. The dispatch with which the steering wheel is displaced from its normal position in front of the driver suffices to enable the safety belt or belts to intercept the body of the driver so that the steering wheel is moved away from its normal position before the driver's body advances forwardly to an extent which, in the absence of displacement of the steering wheel, would result in a pronounced impact against the steering wheel and potential serious or deadly injury to the driver.
The makers of AUDI automobiles offer the aforediscussed safety system, under the name "procon-ten", as an option for installation in certain types of their vehicles. The safety system which is presently offered for sale as an optional feature for installation in certain types of AUDI automobiles is further designed to tension the safety belt or belts simultaneously with movements of the steering wheel and its column out of the way to thus further enhance the likelihood that the driver will survive, or will not be seriously injured as a result of, a head-on collision which entails a rearward displacement of the engine block and/or the transmission case relative to the frame of the damaged or destroyed motor vehicle. To summarize, the operation of the "procon-ten" safety system is based on the principle that the forward movement of the driver's body is to be delayed by the tensioned safety belt or belts as well as that the distance between the driver's body prior to the accident and the position in which the driver's body would strike the steering wheel and/or the dashboard and/or the windshield is to be increased.
Problems can arise when the column for the steering wheel of a motor vehicle is adjustable. Such adjustment can take place in the axial direction of the column and/or it can involve a pivotal movement about an axis which is normal to the axis of the column for the steering wheel and/or a change of the level of the steering wheel. Adjustability of the column is desirable and advantageous in order to enhance the comfort to the driver of the motor vehicle by permitting adjustments which are necessary to provide adequate room for slender, corpulent, tall, short and/or handicapped drivers while, at the same time, ensuring that the driver can readily manipulate the steering wheel. An adjustable steering wheel column, especially a column which is adjustable in several ways, cannot be positively connected to the safety system without interfering with convenience of adjustment of the column or without preventing such adjustment.